Twelve CPU Air Cooler Roundup
Thermaltake NiC C5
The next cooler we have from Thermaltake is the NiC C5. This cooler falls in the same class as the Thermaltake NiC F4 as it is a non interference cooler. The cooler features two 120mm fans and is designed to cool up to 230w.
Specifications
| P/N | CLP0608 |
| Compatibility | Intel LGA 2011/1366/1155/1156/1150/1150/775 AMD FM2/FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2 |
| Heatsink Dimension | 160H * 140W * 50L mm |
| Heatsink Material | Aluminum Fins cu base Copper Heatpipes |
| Heatpipe | Φ6mm x 5 pcs |
| Fan Dimension | 120 x 120 x 25 mm(L xW x H) |
| Fan quantity | 2 pcs |
| Fan Speed | 1000-2000RPM |
| Rated Voltage | 12V |
| Start Voltage | 9V |
| Rated Current | 0.32A |
| Power Input | 3.84W |
| Air Flow | 99.1 CFM |
| Air Pressure | 2.99 MM-H2O |
| Noise | 20 ~39.9 dBA |
| Life time/Fan Life time | 40000 hr |
| Fan control | VR |
| pin connect | 3 pin |
| Cooling Power | 230W |
| Weight | 811 g |
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The Thermaltake NiC C5 packaging follows the rest of the NiC series as in the packaging is not flashy. The box details the features and specifications of the product. It would be safe to assume the rest of the NiC series follows the same package design.
Tucked neatly away inside the box is the CPU cooler and all the parts and pieces to the it installed on the CPU and motherboard.
The Thermaltake NiC C5 is a 120mm tower air cooler that uses five 6mm heat pipes that run through the fins to move heat away from the CPU.
Looking at the fan side of the tower portion of the Thermaltake NiC C5 you can see there is a decent amount of spacing between the fins. This ensures enough airflow to cool the heat pipes.
The base of the NiC C5 is polished and unlike the NiC F4 is not a heat pipe direct touch cooler. We pulled a page out of HardOCP’s playbook to show the flatness of the base. By reflecting a 1cm square grid on the base, the flatness of the base can be determined. If the base of the CPU cooler was not flat, the lines would have waves or breaks in them. This limits the cooling capacity of the CPU cooler. There are a couple of spots where the reflected lines are slightly off.
The fans that are included with the Thermaltake NiC C5 are slightly different that the fans on the NiC F4. These fans are VRM and not PWM. The still share a single connection to the motherboard.
The fan speeds are controlled by an adjustable fan speed knob. The fans can be adjusted from 1000 to 2000 RPM.
The fan blade design is the same split blade design that is included on the Thermaltake NiC F4. The fans included with the Thermaltake NiC C5 are rated fro 99.1 CFM and 20-39.9 dBA.
Installation of the fans is literally a snap. Place the fan in bracket above and the tangs on the bracket snap into place on the tower of the cooler.
Mounting the CPU to Intel motherboards for both the NiC F4 and the NiC C5 is identical. The backplate needs to be attached and bolts ran through. Next screw down the plastic spacers then attach the brackets as shown.
The bracket orientation needs to be correct in order for the CPU cooler to be properly attached.
A word of advice, when attaching coolers that only use two points to attach the cooler to the bracket make sure to give the cooler a twist or two back and forth when installing. This will help ensure even spread of the thermal paste. If not thermal paste will not cover the heat spreader (as above) and the efficiency of the cooler will be reduced.
Like the rest of the NiC series, the NiC C5 leaves enough room to populate all the memory slots on the motherboard.
The Cooler Master TPC 612 is next on the test bench.
